Halfway through a six-week microcontroller course at Launchpad this summer, students hit the part of the syllabus where the instructions run out. Up to that point they had learned how to light an LED, read a button press, and make one depend on the other. Then came the assignment: build something. Your own idea, your own circuit, your own code.
A few of them pushed back. I don’t know what to make.
“Well, of course you don’t,” says Colin Kerr, the software engineer and Philly native who designed and taught the course. “You have to figure it out. That’s part of the problem, deciding what you want to make.”
Our students spent the summer learning the balance every new professional has to strike: following the process you’re handed, and acting on what it doesn’t account for. Some of them spent it inside our building, building things nobody had specced for them. Others spent it with Philadelphia employers, shipping work on real deadlines to real users. A couple of them even started teaching.
Inside the Building
Colin has worked with Launchpad since before it was Launchpad. He was one of our initial consultants when we were still defining the scope of our organization.
He has been teaching in one form or another for about thirteen years. This summer was the first time he ran a full course at Launchpad, through Launchpad Foundations, which served 68 participants over the summer.
The subject picked itself. Launchpad already owned a set of microcontroller kits, graciously funded by Bentley Systems. And students had expressed interest.
”"My goal was for students to build a microcontroller project of their own design. They would come up with an idea, build the circuitry, and write the code."
Colin Kerr
They produced: an ultrasonic security system with alarm lights and sound. A working calculator with an LCD display and a matrix keypad. A square-wave synth. A high/low guessing game driven by a joystick. And a memory game with four buttons and four LEDs, built by Bianca Ruiz.
“I came in with zero knowledge,” she says. “Colin was such an amazing teacher. He broke everything down and made it easy to understand. In just a few weeks, I was able to build my own memory game and code it from scratch.”
By the end of the course she had picked up wiring, electrical connections, breadboards and circuits, along with GitHub for storing her work, coding in Thonny, and setting up and running an IDE.
”"The best part was watching other people play my game and seeing them shocked by how complex the build and code were."
Bianca Ruiz
Learning to Teach
Two Launchpad students, Liam White and Christian Cruz, worked on the course alongside Colin. They tested the material before it was taught, found the places where it broke, and helped write the open-ended sections at the end of each project, the parts designed to push students’ independence.
Once the course started, they became its TAs, bringing a perspective Colin didn’t have: they had just finished learning Python themselves, so they knew the questions someone might have the first time through.
”"It was a great experience helping create and teach this class. I learned a lot, and it was rewarding to see everyone bring their projects to life."
Christian Cruz
Real Deadlines, Real Users
While students were learning at Launchpad, others were gaining experience with Philadelphia employers.
Nakerra Lewis spent her summer as a software engineering intern at WealthMore, working on the company’s web platform, redesigning and improving both the free Community experience and the paid experience, with the goal of making the product more intuitive, accessible and engaging.
Nakerra was responsible for setting up the development environment and had to learn to work inside an existing, large codebase. “Working through those challenges taught me how to troubleshoot problems, follow technical documentation, and become more confident navigating a large web application,” she says.
”"Each round of feedback challenged me to think more intentionally about the user's experience rather than solely appearance, helping me grow as both a designer and developer."
Nakerra Lewis
The thing that surprised her was how much weight sits behind every small decision in a real product. “Features aren’t designed in isolation,” she says. “They’re shaped by user needs, technical limitations, business priorities, and continuous feedback.” She credits her supervisor, Mical Jeanlys-White, for pushing her to think critically about design decisions.
Mical, WealthMore’s CEO, put it plainly: “Congrats to Nakerra Lewis. She went above and beyond.“
Since graduating from Philadelphia Virtual Academy and finishing her internship, Nakerra has started the advanced coding program at Resilient Coders. She’s looking for a full-time software development role, “creating products that have a meaningful impact,” as she puts it.
Max Georges spent the summer at CreateAccess, reviewing and finalizing 3D tools built for young creators, and facilitating in front of rooms full of them. On the Drexel Young Dragons program he worked with teams of middle schoolers exploring biodiversity in Spline, Tinkercad, Sculpt GL and Cesium, helping them model, animate, 3D print, and drop their creations into a map of the real world.
Like Christian and Liam, Max’s summer was also spent giving back and mentoring the next cohort of Launchpad students. For the past three summers, CreateAccess has worked with Launchpad Foundations students as they take their first steps in 3D creation. This year, Max worked on the 3D Game Design track, helping creators build transformational games in Unreal Editor for Fortnite.
Max says that his biggest challenge was getting comfortable with public speaking.
”"I'm just really proud that I was able to present three times without feeling as nervous as I anticipated." Max Georges
Max Georges
Liz Dailey, CreateAccess co-founder and executive director, shared her gratitude saying, “Thank you [Max] for all your contributions to our team. I love working with you, and can’t wait to see what you do at Drexel and beyond!” Max starts at Drexel this fall, but will be returning to Launchpad on Wednesdays to support CreateAccess with their 3D clubs!
Lamaj Kelly was placed at Center for Hope, a shelter operating under the Urban Affairs Coalition. First he audited the shelter’s platforms, next he researched how other shelters managed their platforms, and then started making things. A video and photo slideshow from the organization’s summer barbecue went out across two Facebook accounts and Instagram. After that came a series of staff interviews: case managers, nurses, chefs, the people who actually run the place.
Stanton Hare, community liaison at the Urban Affairs Coalition, reflected, “I couldn’t be more grateful for the time and effort Lamaj has put in this summer.”
Lamaj is now a freshman at Kutztown University, majoring in computer science and hoping to minor in game design.
”"It is important that we highlight the meaningful work being done and the people behind it.”
Lamaj Kelly
What's Next?
Our next Launchpad 101 cohort started this month: 56 students, drawn from 31 high schools across 25 Philadelphia zip codes. Eleven associates also started LiftOff, including Bianca, Christian, and Liam.
We asked everyone what they’d say to the students walking in this month.
”"Software engineering is a creative job. There's always a temptation to use whatever the latest and greatest tools are to think less. Use them to think more. You're being paid to find and build creative solutions."
Colin Kerr
Max’s version is shorter. “Go in with your best effort, your best attitude, best everything,” he says, “so that you set yourself up for success.”
Lamaj’s is about how to take up space in a room that isn’t yours yet. “Bring who you are to the company, and be open to learning from others.”
And Nakerra has the answer to the question our microcontroller students were asking back at the beginning of the summer. “Don’t let the fear of not knowing enough stop you from asking questions. Internships aren’t about having all the answers. They’re about learning how to find them.”
Launchpad students get paid to learn, build, and work at real Philadelphia employers. Employer partners are what make that possible! Email nick@launchpadphilly.org if you are interested in becoming an employer partner and/or hosting an internship.
Author
Iman Sayeed is the Development Manager at Launchpad. After serving as an elementary education teacher, Iman is eagerly raising engagement and investment at Launchpad.
